Passengers aboard Flydubai flight FZ1073 experienced moments of pure terror in the air, comparable only to a freefall on a vertical roller coaster. The aircraft plunged approximately 16,000 feet (or 4,877 meters) in roughly 30 seconds, turning into a sudden nightmare for everyone on board.
Flight instructor Alberto Pedoanelli, owner of ALPA Simulation in England, recreated the dive in a flight simulator and explained the severe sensations the passengers endured. "A dive of 16,000 feet (4,877 meters) over 30 seconds would feel like you're on a very, very vertical roller coaster," Pedoanelli said.
He noted that the combination of speed and angle created an extreme physical load on those aboard the aircraft. "The difference is that on a roller coaster you know what's happening," Pedoanelli explained, adding that in a sudden dive "you feel the negative G-force on your body." For passengers who were not buckled in, "your body would just lift off the seat."
The sharp dive began after the co-pilot, an Omani national, attacked the captain with an emergency axe during the flight from Dubai to Israel. The United Arab Emirates Attorney General defined the incident as a "terror attack," following a similar declaration by Israel. Before the downward plunge began, the autopilot was disconnected and the aircraft rapidly accelerated.
Disaster was averted after passengers on board acted decisively and overpowered the co-pilot. A reserve flight crew that happened to be on the aircraft then managed to level the plane and bring it to a safe landing. Pedoanelli noted that "it was nothing short of a miracle that no one was hurt except the captain, unfortunately, and that two pilots were on the plane."
United States President Donald Trump also addressed the aircraft's resilience on social media. "It was an amazing display of precise and strong structural planning and design," Trump wrote, adding that the aircraft "managed to withstand G-forces and loads far beyond what it was designed and expected to handle."
In the background of the incident, investigative authorities continue to examine to co-pilot's past. It has emerged that he underwent brief training at Royal Air Maroc in 2025 but was not hired, studied aviation management remotely in the UK, and his connections to Australia, where he previously studied at a university in Melbourne, are now also being investigated.
